Creed SMW - anyone else disappointed ?

Hey,

I bought the 120 ml EDT of Creed Silver Mountain Water a couple of weeks ago - bought online for $165. I have now worn it a dozen times, and to be honest I feel disappointed - is it just me and my skin or is this scent overrated because it has the Creed name on it

I bought it to use it for the upcoming spring and summer - and as a high end gym scent. This stuff is really boring and mediocre smelling to my nose.

I feel like when I last week bought 2 $120 bottles of Amarone red wine only to discover that they failed in comparison to a lot of my $30-$40 bottles of Amarone red wines. I tried really really hard to given them a fair chance, but also in blind test the dumped in comparison to 4 other Amarone red wines (4 friends tested them without knowing what was what)

I really try hard to be honest and give a fragrance a chance before I come with my honest opinion about it.

SMW seems like a dusty semi-fresh extremely skin close scent but it sort of fails to be fresh enough nor stylish enough nor particularly elegant to me.

Had I paid $45-50 for the bottle I probably wouldn't bother to write this. I mean I have a lot of pretty tame, safe & boring aquatics and middle of the road nice smelling frags in that price range - but this is $165 stuff, that even sells for $250 retail, so at least it should be decent quality stuff.........right......

Don't get me wrong it's not bad in any way - but frankly it's just a mehhhh sort of scent to me. Lasts maybe 6 hours on my skin, but from start to finish is very very close to skin - to be honest it smells like a mediocre supermarket $15 frag.

To be sure I didn't receive a fake - I ordered two 2 ml samples of Creed SMW from two different retailers - smelled the same to my nose.

Honestly - it's really boring, dusty, semi fresh, semi stylish - has tones of metallic like undertones, fresh like under tones - but I absolutely get nothing special out of this frag. Let me be honest - I expect to at least be able to tell myself that frags costing $150 a bottle and more should smell like HIGH QUALITY juice to me.

Creed SMW does smell natural, nothing synthetic about it. But it's tame and boring, and on me only projects for like 1-2 hours and fades away longevity wise after 6 hours tops (4-5 sprays) and I often get 8-10-12 hours out of other regular frags.

I will rate Creed SMW 7/10 - only because it smells completely natural and the bottle looks extremely nice. The scent is boring and tame and highly overpriced.
This is NOT an Aston Martin NOR a Maserati, it's a Toyota dressed up as a Bentley.

I have to give my thumbs down to this frag - even if it costed $45 a bottle it would be highly mediocre to my honest nose :thumb down:

Regards
Claus The Danish Viking
Now with 418 unique bottles in my collection

Re: Creed SMW - anyone else disappointed ?

I would say the same about other Creed fragrances. I think SMW is one of the more interesting millesimes actually, but everyone has a different opinion about it here and elsewhere, and I am not trying to change your opinion about it. I'm sorry to hear that it failed for you. All I would add is: NEVER buy blind. I learned this the hard way too, but ever since I have always sought out a sample of a potential purchase first.

Re: Creed SMW - anyone else disappointed ?

You might try spraying it on your clothing if the longevity is not good on your skin. I could smell SMW for days and days if I were to spray it directly on a shirt. You might also ask other people if they can smell it on you, just to make sure your nose hasn't somehow become immune the scent.

Re: Creed SMW - anyone else disappointed ?

Silver Mountain Water is a very nice fresh scent,. It's just not $150 nice, which is what I paid for my 4 oz flask. I like the tea and metallic "ink" note in it. It smells cold and clean. The bottle is a good graphical representation of what it smells like, as well as one of my favorite looking Creed bottles. It projects well enough for the first 1-2 hours and then fades to skin scent for the remaining 1-2 hours and then it's gone. The most I've gotten out of it was 4 hours so far, which is very disappointing for a supposed EDP strength fragrance. To be honest, the first time I smelled it I thought it smelled very much like Millesime Imperial. They do have something similar going on, but they're very different. I'd rank it as my second to the last favorite Creed right above Green Irish Tweed.

Re: Creed SMW - anyone else disappointed ?

Originally Posted by RedRaider430

You might try spraying it on your clothing if the longevity is not good on your skin. I could smell SMW for days and days if I were to spray it directly on a shirt. You might also ask other people if they can smell it on you, just to make sure your nose hasn't somehow become immune the scent.

I NEVER spray my clothes with frags, because sometimes the scent stays even after washing the shirt - and I try to use new frags every other day.......
The scent is just not interesting enough to my nose, nor does it scream high quality - just seems quite mediocre middle of the road to my nose.......just being honest here.

I appreciate high quality - but I also like to be honest.
I've seen this frag praised highly in here and on YouTube - so felt like I would give it my honest opinion.
As said, if this frag was named Bvlgari or Versace I would not bother write about it.
But it's a Creed costing 3-4 times what a designer frag cost.

I will sell my 120 ml bottle and move on - I still LOVE LOVE my 120 ml Creed Original Santal and Creed Aventus (Just received a 2 ml sample of Aventus) and my 120 ml Creed GIT is pretty good to my nose (not a masterpiece though - but very well made quality frag)

Have a nice day out there

Regards
Claus The Danish Viking
Now with 418 unique bottles in my collection

Re: Creed SMW - anyone else disappointed ?

Silver Mountain Water is one of the longest lasting scents I've ever experienced. It has a freakishly powerful radiance as well-- it really gets noticed. I also think it has a "superstar" smell about it. One of my female coworkers used to beg me to wear it and it alone every day. Also, I really like the white flask-- as mesaboogie says, the bottle really suits the actual fragrance.

Re: Creed SMW - anyone else disappointed ?

Originally Posted by mesaboogie

Silver Mountain Water is a very nice fresh scent,. It's just not $150 nice, which is what I paid for my 4 oz flask. I like the tea and metallic "ink" note in it. It smells cold and clean. The bottle is a good graphical representation of what it smells like, as well as one of my favorite looking Creed bottles. It projects well enough for the first 1-2 hours and then fades to skin scent for the remaining 1-2 hours and then it's gone. The most I've gotten out of it was 4 hours so far, which is very disappointing for a supposed EDP strength fragrance. To be honest, the first time I smelled it I thought it smelled very much like Millesime Imperial. They do have something similar going on, but they're very different. I'd rank it as my second to the last favorite Creed right above Green Irish Tweed.

Funny - I don't get the fresh notes in this scent. It's semi fresh - but too dusty and metallic inky smelling to be a really fresh frag. Yet the longevity and projection is very mediocre - almost as worse as the freshest scent out there on my skin and I get good longevity out of mosts frags.

Re: Creed SMW - anyone else disappointed ?

I kind of agree with you too. For a few days I was absolutely head over heels for SMW. But then, last night I went to the Creed store and tried two sprays to the neck. Naw, not for me. It just doesn't last long and doesn't have the wow factor like other Creeds such as Aventus. I'm now looking at picking up Original Santal, which lasts really long and has a rich smell.

Re: Creed SMW - anyone else disappointed ?

I really like it, probably my favorite out of the Creeds I've tried. However, projection and longevity on me is really bad. Except when I spray it on my clothes, then it seems to last forever and I can still smell it days, even weeks, afterward. Because it doesn't last on my skin I would probably never purchase it. I like most of the Creeds I tried but to my nose they all seem to lack something, they are rather 'flat' to me without much 'depth'...

Re: Creed SMW - anyone else disappointed ?

Originally Posted by Indie_Guy

Silver Mountain Water is one of the longest lasting scents I've ever experienced. It has a freakishly powerful radiance as well-- it really gets noticed. I also think it has a "superstar" smell about it. One of my female coworkers used to beg me to wear it and it alone every day. Also, I really like the white flask-- as mesaboogie says, the bottle really suits the actual fragrance.

This is my experience as well. I'm wearing it today. It's a wardrobe mainstay for me.

Re: Creed SMW - anyone else disappointed ?

I own it and still haven't sold my bottle because every once in a while when I wear it, I like it. It's definitely unique, so I'm not sure where all the sport deodorant comparisons are coming from - I've never smelled a sports deodorant with inky, icy fresh tea notes.

I don't like it as much as GIT, MI or Aventus etc... but as far as fresh scents go, it's a hell of a lot more interesting than most. Lasts about 10-12 hours on me and projects very well.

Re: Creed SMW - anyone else disappointed ?

I hated SMW when I first smelled it, then grew to like it; I personally don't think it smells that similar to anything out there, and definitely gets noticed.

But I stopped wearing it after a while. Not that it's a bad scent, but there are so many better choices that please my nose more. I find when I wear it I don't smell my wrist during the day, which I do when wearing MI, GIT, Egoiste, Chergui, etc. And at Creed's price point, I won't keep buying and wearing a scent that doesn't "wow" me.

Re: Creed SMW - anyone else disappointed ?

You got it - smells like a natural better version of a $15 Supermarket Williams Cologne spray - sorry, I'm not even kidding !

It does have nice elements of ink and metal, which I kind of like - me being a fan of Chanel Platinum and all

Ohhhhh and I actually am getting 8 hours out of SMW - but I have to dip my nose very close to my skin to still be able to catch a whiff of it on my skin.
We have 2 degrees celcius outside (35 Fahrenheit) but I stayed in all day setting up my new iPhone 4s 64GB and TimeCapsule/Sonos music system and have a solid 27 degrees in my apartment (80 fahrenheit - Yeahhh I like to have it nice and warm indoors) and this should make the scent project a bit more, yet it still is very close to the skin this frag.....hmmm

Regards
Claus The Danish Viking
Now with 418 unique bottles in my collection

Re: Creed SMW - anyone else disappointed ?

Originally Posted by Trauerkraut

...do as I do: consider Creed as a total disappointment of itself and you never will be disappointed by one of its mediocre releases again...!

Problem is I like Creed OS and GIT and actually prefer Himalaya over SMW - how boring Himalaya may be
But you're probably right - I will just keep my 3 bottles of Creed, maybe looking for a bottle of Aventus - and then focus on getting some Lutens, Tauer, Malle, Montale and Tom Ford in 2012.
Have ordered Killians Back to Black after buying a sample of it and also looking to get my hands on Bond No.9 Silver Factory.

Creed sure does make the best looking stylish bottles on the planet IMHO but their juice sure does seem a bit watery and weak to my nose......hmmmm.....

Regards
Claus The Danish Viking
Now with 418 unique bottles in my collection

Re: Creed SMW - anyone else disappointed ?

I never have liked this one. I simply can't stand that piercing metallic, sour, tangy note at the top. It literally makes me feel sick. I guess it's the black currant mixed with the tea? I usually like both of these notes, but whatever creates that "shrill" opening in SMW, I just can't handle.

Re: Creed SMW - anyone else disappointed ?

BTW - Olivier Creed has stated in the past that SMW is his personal favorite creation of his.

This and the rave reviews SMW got actually was a factor that lead me to blind buy this frag.
No worries, I gave $165 for it, and can easily sell it for $130 - so no big deal.

I've spent 7 grant on frags since august 2011 already, but still looking to get quality juice when I pay over $100 a bottle.
$100 a bottle is my limit - when I pay more than $100, I pay extra attention to the quality of the juice and how it projects and lasts and how natural it smells.

Regards
Claus The Danish Viking
Now with 418 unique bottles in my collection

Re: Creed SMW - anyone else disappointed ?

Big fan of SMW but it was one that I came back to after owning a sample for quite a long time. I had broken my sample out again the beginning of winter weather last year, absolutely adored it and then went full bottle. I managed to grab a pretty good deal though at $115. Definitely softened the damage of the purchase. =)

As with about 95% of my purchases, I have to go with the sample first before going in on a bottle. And it's always nice to re-visit the samples along the way, as well.

Re: Creed SMW - anyone else disappointed ?

One of my favorite scents - Very versatile, and I find that I can very easily come back to it, time after time, whereas I tire of many other scents. Could be a bad bottle/bad batch - Took me buying and returning several bottles before I bought a bottle from someone on here who got it from a Creed Boutique, to which it smelled great. Everyone has different tastes, though.

Re: Creed SMW - anyone else disappointed ?

I like SMW- The initial blast is very refreshing and I find myslef smelling my arms and wrists even more through the drydown. Its a non-offensive smell that grabs compliments in every setting. It's great to my nose and all noses are different so to each their own.

Re: Creed SMW - anyone else disappointed ?

Everyone has their opinion. Frags even smell different on different people. That being said Creed SMW is awesome. It is the most complimented fragrance that I have ever owned. IMO it is a very safe fragrance but smells like nothing else I could think of.

Re: Creed SMW - anyone else disappointed ?

Seifert I agree with your original post. SMW is overpriced and average, like every Creed except MI of the dozen or so I've bought/been gifted/sampled. MI stands head and shoulders above other citrus aquatics for me; it's only drawback is poor longevity. I will never understand the love for Aventus or GIT, they are nothing special imo. Creed = all hype

Re: Creed SMW - anyone else disappointed ?

I enjoy SMW quite a bit and it is actually one of my favorite fragrances. I don't believe it was designed to be an exciting or dramatic fragrance, but that doesn't necessarily mean it isn't well done. I think Creed did a fantastic job with creating a unique and relaxing fresh scent.

Re: Creed SMW - anyone else disappointed ?

MI, SMW, and Himalaya all smell similar to me. I like MI and SMW and don't care for Himalaya. From reading some of the reviews people usually only like one out of the 3 and the people who like Himalaya find it a better version of SMW. Personally I think SMW is by far the best out of the three, but I didn't buy it blind either.

Re: Creed SMW - anyone else disappointed ?

Originally Posted by CHSeifert

I NEVER spray my clothes with frags, because sometimes the scent stays even after washing the shirt - and I try to use new frags every other day.......
The scent is just not interesting enough to my nose, nor does it scream high quality - just seems quite mediocre middle of the road to my nose.......just being honest here.

I appreciate high quality - but I also like to be honest.
I've seen this frag praised highly in here and on YouTube - so felt like I would give it my honest opinion.
As said, if this frag was named Bvlgari or Versace I would not bother write about it.
But it's a Creed costing 3-4 times what a designer frag cost.

I will sell my 120 ml bottle and move on - I still LOVE LOVE my 120 ml Creed Original Santal and Creed Aventus (Just received a 2 ml sample of Aventus) and my 120 ml Creed GIT is pretty good to my nose (not a masterpiece though - but very well made quality frag)

Have a nice day out there

CH: I wasn't disappointed because i smelled it first and compared it unfavorably to Himalaya.
Neither is admired by those who go for the 'old school' or ' private collection' Creeds that are better blended.

(Even most Creed haters love Vintage Tabarome)

I suggest the obvious, that if there's a retail outfit near you that carries Creed and have testers available, try them first.

The second suggestion is that you go back to the reviews here of SMW and look at those who gave it a neutral rating they may be more trustworthy insofar as having similar taste to yours.

I'm happy many like it so much, it's not an obnoxious or bad frag by any means - but had I bought it blind, I'd be tempted to give it a thumbs down as well.

Glad you like Aventus.

(Shh! It's not cool to say that around here because it's one of the modern Creeds and quite popular )

If you ever want widen your range and try the 'old school ' ones, I'd recommend Royal English Leather, Selection Verte (now, unfortunately outrageously overpriced) Cypres-Musc, and the aforementioned Vintage Tabarome (VT only if you like strong tobacco notes!)

Check out the reviews and if you can't get to test them 'live' at a retail outfit do yourself a favor and get a sample.

Sorry for your disappointment.
Wishing you better times and happy surprises;

CH: I wasn't disappointed because i smelled it first and compared it unfavorably to Himalaya.
Neither is admired by those who go for the 'old school' or ' private collection' Creeds that are better blended.

(Even most Creed haters love Vintage Tabarome)

I suggest the obvious, that if there's a retail outfit near you that carries Creed and have testers available, try them first.

The second suggestion is that you go back to the reviews here of SMW and look at those who gave it a neutral rating they may be more trustworthy insofar as having similar taste to yours.

I'm happy many like it so much, it's not an obnoxious or bad frag by any means - but had I bought it blind, I'd be tempted to give it a thumbs down as well.

Glad you like Aventus.

(Shh! It's not cool to say that around here because it's one of the modern Creeds and quite popular )

If you ever want widen your range and try the 'old school ' ones, I'd recommend Royal English Leather, Selection Verte (now, unfortunately outrageously overpriced) Cypres-Musc, and the aforementioned Vintage Tabarome (VT only if you like strong tobacco notes!)

Check out the reviews and if you can't get to test them 'live' at a retail outfit do yourself a favor and get a sample.

Sorry for your disappointment.
Wishing you better times and happy surprises;

Cheers,

Mario

Thanks Mario for very good advice, I do really appreciate it highly

Unfortunately the only shop in Copenhagen which had a wide variety of Creed's just closed - not enough customers would pay $200 for the 75 ml version of the Creeds (yes Retail prices in Denmark are far from cheap).

But I do enjoy fresh aquatic, metallic watery scents - and if SMW had costed $45-50 for 120 ml I would gladly use it as a nice toned down yet fresh frag for spring/fall and summer evenings. But for $150-180 online and $250 retail I just felt it was shooting way over the target.....
At Maserati prices I don't expect to feel like driving a Toyota

I enjoy all kind of frags - also once or twice a month during summer use the fresh boring uninspiring L'Eau D'Issey and Acqua Di Gio, because they are fresh and clean.
Chanel Platinum is a fresh metallic frag I enjoy HIGHLY, even with the haters bashing it here on BN

Only stop with the too floral and make up smelling frags like Dior Homme/Intense and the coffee/Coco/Caramel based gourmands - detest A*Men, to me pure vomit.
But highly enjoy border line gourmands like YSL BodyKouros and Lolita implica au Masculine.

Regards
Claus The Danish Viking
Now with 418 unique bottles in my collection